Arian Foster doesn’t practice on Wednesday

Posted by Josh Alper on September 21, 2011, 4:07 PM EST

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Arian Foster’s return to the lineup lasted a half in Miami and he hasn’t gotten back on the field since then.

Despite Texans coach Gary Kubiak’s denial that Foster reaggravated his hamstring injury against the Dolphins, the Texans held Foster out of practice on Wednesday. Kubiak claimed after the game that Foster was merely fatigued, which means he’s really exhausted or that he did, in fact, suffer a setback with his hamstring.

If Foster did wind up doing more damage, the Texans would be wise to keep him sidelined until he’s all the way back. Hamstring injuries have a nasty habit of lingering around and cropping up again if they aren’t fully healed before getting back on the field. Whether or not they rushed him back this time, they should be overly conservative this time.

It’s not like Houston doesn’t have a good option in Foster’s stead. Ben Tate has 219 rushing yards in the first two weeks and Kubiak has already acknowledged that he’s the lead back in Houston for the time being. Derrick Ward also missed practice on Wednesday, which would put Steve Slaton in the backup role if Ward isn’t able to answer the bell.

I thought about trading Tate too… BUT… he has been putting up solid numbers even with a time share (RBC). I have no idea why they continue to try and rush Foster back. They are essentially hitting the reset button on his injury timeline each time they do.